cover image source: ApolloTheater
Hope y'all don't mind, but we're gonna retread some ground here and talk live music (see the original live music...
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I usually only listen to live versions inperson at shows but there are a couple that I'll usually opt for over studio:
One of my all time fave live performances is Nirvana's Bowie cover on MTV Unplugged:
also I prefer Alice in Chains' Unplugged version of Down in a Hole wayyy more than studio, might even be my fave from them (which is quite a tall order) - chills everytime I listen to it
Joan Baez' fantastic rendition of Where Have All the Flowers Gone has always stuck out to me
and last but not least, I feel like I'm always dropping a Simon & Garfunkel song in these threads and I'm always like "okay THIS is my favorite Simon & Garfunkel song" and it's literally a different song everytime 😅 but love their live performances of The Dangling Conversation significantly more than studio
Awwww yayeah! You're always coming through with the goods here. 🙌
I was on a big grunge kick about a year ago and got really hooked on Alice in Chains — I just tuned in and this performance of "Down in a Hole" is seriously incredible. I agree that it's got the album version beat. And I'm totally familiar with Nirvana's version of "The Man Who Sold the World"... so good! Speaking of Bowie, gotta give his version of "Starman" from Top of The Pops 1972 a shoutout here as it's def one of the greats.
But yeah, those MTV Unplugged show were soooo good — I really love Clapton and crew's version "Layla" from the Unplugged series, it's a nice mix of jazz and blues. There's a hilarious breakdown of dad rock here that gives this performance a mention.
As for Joan Baez and Simon and Garfunkel, ya can't go wrong here... such great artists! I don't know if I've heard these live performances before, so I'll most definitely be tuning in!
Classic picks! Joan Baez is a big fave of mine, too. Farewell Angelina is, as the kids say, a slapper
Yessss I've got a (tangentially) neat Joan Baez story!
The university I went to is roughly ~60 miles from NYC so it turned into an ideal venue for large acts in the late 60s/70s to play out on Long Island without being too close to the city (had to do with radius clauses in live venue contracts)
One night Joan Baez played a show and after seeing the show one of my professors was driving home and he picked up a hitchhiker that literally turned out to be her omg she was trying to get to the nearest train station
Damn! i love all of them!!!!!
Alright, I got an oddball one for y'all — Marc Rebillet.
If you don't like profanity, then I'd suggest steering clear of this one. Marc Rebillet is a looper who mainly plays funk and hip hop, but is definitely not confined to those genres. Very influenced by Reggie Watts, Marc combines comedy with music and takes it to some pretty absurd places. His music can go off the rails, often getting extremely profane (it's meant to be over the top, but it's not for everyone 😅) and ridiculously sexual (again, it's absurd)... so yeah, that's your NSFW warning.
In this recent video 👇, he set up somewhere in NYC to do a live set and drew quite a crowd (many of whom hopped in to perform alongside him... just look for those "most replayed" markers on YouTube):
I like his "How to funk in two minutes" video
Haha! He puts out some incredible content.
I really like CHILLING WITH ERYKAH AND REGGIE... he has a few of these episodes (one with Tenacious D) and the whole vibe is ridiculous.
I'll get us started with one of my favorite groups, Rainbow Kitten Surprise. They're fellow North Carolinians with an incredible live presence and intensity. I highly recommend checking out their studio albums, but if you ever get the chance to see them live, please don't hesitate, ya won't regret it.
Here's a recent video of them performing "Devil Like Me"
Here's another of them performing "It's Called Freefall" (one of my favorite tunes of theirs)
And while it's not a live performance, everybody should check out the music video for "Hide" ... it's a great song, but also the music video is a really heartfelt mini-documentary about the lives of several drag queens in New Orleans. I luckily got to see this song performed live at Voodoofest 2018 in New Orleans and the drag queens from the music video made an appearance on stage (I could only find this short phone capture of it) — it was incredible!
I'm so thankful to live in a time where I can watch live performances that I didn't attend! Especially when it comes to early/rare vocal performances by artists I love. Here are some of my faves...
Phoebe Bridgers performing "Georgia" in 2015. Her vocal instrument is so powerful it brings tears to my eyes. The belt at timestamp 1:10..........what in the world. I've seen her live a handful of times and watched a lot of live performances, and she just doesn't belt like this! Probably to protect her vocal cords. Ok, I got off on a tangent there. Enjoy.
Angel Olsen performing "Some Things Cosmic" in 2011. The depth and timbre that she is able to achieve at such a young age, in such a small frame? In a video store with a single mic wired to a teeny tiny amp? Get outta here.
Julien Baker performing "Rejoice" in 2015. This is the video that got me into Julien Baker. The acoustics in this empty stadium are perfect, the tone of this ratty old acoustic guitar is spot-on, and of course I'm a sucker for a powerful belt (timestamp 2:11)
And for one final one, I maintain that this BBC Radio 1 live cover of Ariana Grande's song "Problem" by Hozier is better than the original. Sorry Ari.
Haha, forreal!
And wow, so many good suggestions here. I'm only through the first 2 performances so far, but I really dig'em both! Angel Olsen's voice is sooo uniquely awesome and I can absolutely appreciate Phoebe Bridgers' belting vocals — super soulful!
I've heard both Julien Baker and Hozier before,and really like'em... I'm sure I'm gonna enjoy these performances! Thank you so much for chiming in with these great tunes. 🙌
Ah! Daniel Caesar put out a new album called NEVER ENOUGH that I am super loving, got into them because of this wonderful video with Jacob Collier (also a super favorite)!
Oh wow! This is freaking awesome. I know Jacob Collier, but was unfamiliar with Daniel Caesar. I'm now a fan of both of'em — def gonna have to look up NEVER ENOUGH. 🙂
On the note of Jacob Collier, I really love this video he did for Wired where he explains the concept of harmony in 5 levels of difficulty.
I contain musical multitudes and also happen to be an unironic fan of the band 100 gecs. The gecs are not for the faint of heart and I don't want to lose the musical respect of you fine music-loving DEV members, so if this comment gets ten likes, I will consider myself in appropriate company and link to my favorite live 100 gecs performance. 🦎
Shoot, now that I know who they are, I'm a fan too. They rock! 🤘
This is My Favorite & The Best Live Concert Ever!!!! SWAMI
And here the playlist:
I'm a week late, but dang I'm glad I came back. This is awesome! 🙌
Woooooo you back!!!! Have a wonderful day bro.
Had to search for a bit but found it. Absolutely stunning vocals ❤
Wow! Those are some powerful vocals. This is a great performance, thanks for sharing!
I've been listening for way more than 42 times "Yo me llamo Cumbia" because I want to try to record my version of it, and holy shit that's well outside of my comfort zone so I need to practice a lot.
🇪🇸🇬🇧 Spanish and English lyrics here
Cumbia has been a favorite genre of mine, especially when I need a boost of energy and motivation.
Yo me llamo Cumbia itself, that's very meta, is Cumbia personalized by a woman and explaining to us what Cumbia is, how it was born, etc.
My short version of it is that Cumbia is like a south-american cousin of Blues & Jazz. Like those, it was born of the extremely violent "discovery" of the Americas, and from all this shit, unspectedly, as if Humanity wanted to redeem itself, something unexpected and beautiful was born.
In practice Cumbia was born out of three influences that weren't supposed to encounter each other:
Nowdays it's the national music from Colombia.
But because it's so beautiful, multiple countries have since then made their own spin out of it.
Truly a world music.
Oooo heck yeah! I knew of Cumbia and actually had a boss that used to play Cumbia music for us all the dang time back in my office days... it's really lively music and I can def see how it'd be a source of motivation and energy.
It's really cool to learn the background of the genre and to hear its similarities to Blues & Jazz. I feel like a lot of the most beautiful art is born out of struggle... it's especially cool that music like this which feels so celebratory and fun can be born out of hard times.
Also, really cool song! I appreciate ya explaining that the song is Cumbia personified. It kinda reminds me of Common's song "I Used To Love H.E.R." where he personifies Hip Hop and sings to her. You can listen to the original here but since this is a thread of live performances, I'll link you to Common's incredible NPR Tiny Desk performance at the White House (it's the first song in the set).